Beautiful
by Sanguine Poison
Summary: During Bring On The Night. Buffy sits in her room and contemplates the issue of The First and has an interesting revelation brought on by a one time enemy


Title: Beautiful Author: Belle Morte aka Vampy E-mail: Vampybaby619@hotmail.com Rating: PG-13 Summary: During Bring On The Night when Buffy has just returned to her home after fighting the Uber-Vamp. Distribution: You want it? Just let me know where it's going Disclaimer: I do not own anything Buffy related just the plot of the story and Christina Aguilera owns the song "Beautiful"  
  
There she sat, still and statue-like, staring at her bruised and battered face in the mirror. Her body still ached from the severe beating she suffered with the seemingly invincible vampire. She felt lost.defeated.  
  
Every day is so wonderful  
  
And suddenly, it's hard to breathe  
  
Now and then, I get insecure  
  
From all the fame, I'm so ashamed  
  
The First was going to destroy the world and she had no idea what to do, how to stop it. She had faced apocalypse after apocalypse and like a true warrior of goodness she had beaten them all back, triumphed over every great evil that showed itself along with the help of her dear friends.but this time the evil couldn't be overcome. Looking again at her ruined visage she began to cry, tears sliding smoothly down her cheeks. She failed.failed at killing the First's monster, failed at saving Spike the one person she could have turned to at this moment. She needed him.more than ever this time.  
  
Spike lay on his side, eyes closed.the evil presence had given him a break from the Neanderthal vampire's beatings; he planned to sleep while he could. As soon as he drifted off he began to dream, he found himself gazing into an empty mirror.  
  
"S'right, no reflection" he murmured. As he looking into it a face appeared, one he envisioned many times and knew well. There was something wrong, her lovely face was a mask of cuts.  
  
"What happened to you, love?" Spike whispered, touching the mirror image.  
  
Buffy watched the tears flow down her face in the mirror, her face never changing.until her image in the mirror faded and Spike's face came into view in the depths of the glass, flesh as battered as her own. She stared open mouthed.it couldn't be!  
  
To all your friends, you're delirious  
  
So consumed in all your doom  
  
Trying hard to fill the emptiness  
  
The piece is gone and the puzzle undone  
  
That's the way it is  
  
"Spike?"  
  
"Slayer? Can you hear me?" He asked, palms against the glass as if he could push through. "What's happened, love? Who did this to you?"  
  
Buffy looked away and remained quiet for a moment, trying to decide whether the mirror image was The First messing with her mind, or really the person she'd been searching diligently for. She weighed the pros and cons of the situation in her mind, she looked back into the mirror at Spike, his eyes, although one was slightly swollen looked at her pleadingly.  
  
"Talk to me, pet" he said softly. With that, Buffy began to cry.  
  
"The First sent out the Uber-Vamp, he did this" she explained, touching one of the bruises tentatively.  
  
"He worked me over pretty well himself. Though I don't look half as lovely even with the cuts" Spike replied, a small amount of his old self slipping through.  
  
"Lovely? I feel like I've run over by a milk truck" Buffy replied, wincing.  
  
"Slayer, you're always beautiful to me"  
  
You are beautiful no matter what they say  
  
Words won't bring you down  
  
You are beautiful in every single way  
  
Yes, words won't bring you down  
  
"Beautiful or not, I don't know how to fight this thing, Spike. I can't, I feel it"  
  
"Don't, love. Please. You're the only hope this bloody world has, don't give up on it.on me." He said, the last punctuated by his palms slamming on the glass. The sound made her jump.  
  
"The First is stronger than us all; it will see us all dead. How do I fight some thing I can't kill?" she asked, fresh tears falling.  
  
"You don't give up, and if you can't kill it, you keep fighting! You fight and fight until you can't anymore. You can't commit suicide by not defending yourself, can't go down without a fight. You're better than that. What happened to the Slayer I knew who saved a seat for the Big Bad on the bus hell. If you can't beat The First and its agents, you take as many of them to hell with you!"  
  
"I can't!"  
  
"You can! You know why? Because I believe in you.you have the strength, Slayer, find it! Wrap it around you like armor, shield yourself"  
  
"If I had the strength I would have found you already.Where are you, Spike? I need you." she proclaimed, "I can't do this alone"  
  
"You're not alone. You have your chums and the Nibblet.and you have me. You have to find that strength I see in you before you can find me, it's there. I felt it when we first kissed." Spike replied, hands sliding down the glass, aching to take her into his arms.  
  
No matter what we do  
  
No matter what they say  
  
When the sun is shining through  
  
Then the clouds won't stay  
  
And everywhere we go  
  
The sun won't always shine  
  
But tomorrow will find a way  
  
All the other times  
  
Spike image started to ripple and distort, the mirror fogged around the edges on both sides of the glass. They stared at each other for a long moment.  
  
"I guess our time is almost up" Buffy murmured.  
  
"I love you, Buffy. You can beat this.you have it in you" said Spike.  
  
"How can you be so strong? Look at what they've done to you." she trailed off.  
  
"What does it matter? You believe in me. I won't give up because you're my strength, every time they work me over I think of you and I don't feel so much like giving up." He replied. The edges of the mirror fogged up a little bit more.  
  
We are beautiful no matter what they say  
  
Yes, words won't bring us down  
  
We are beautiful no matter what they say  
  
Yes, words can't bring us down  
  
"Looks like this is goodbye, eh Slayer?"  
  
"Not goodbye, Spike. See you later" Buffy replied, wiping away the remnants of her tears, putting herself back together.  
  
"Right. See you later, love" he replied, backing away from the mirror as her image faded a little more.  
  
"Spike?"  
  
"Yeah, Slayer?"  
  
"Thank You" She said, quietly  
  
"What are former enemies for?" He replied, giving her a watered down version of his usual cocky smile.  
  
"I'll find you, I promise."  
  
"I know" he said, his image fading even more so that she could see her own reflection superimposed over him. She turned to go.  
  
"Slayer!"  
  
She turned back to the looking glass.  
  
"You're beautiful."  
  
She knew he didn't just mean her features.  
  
"So are you."  
  
"That's my girl. Now, go rally the troops"  
  
The mirror images they had of each other faded and Spike awoke on his back, a small smile on his face. The First, in guise of his once beloved Drusilla, glared down at him.  
  
"What are you smiling about, poppet?"  
  
"She believes in me and she's coming"  
  
"Is that so? We'll see about that."  
  
Buffy awoke with a start and looked to the mirror.the only refection she saw was her own. But her dream was right.They had to fight, the world was going to end but it would end with a bang. She traced the lines of her face.  
  
"Beautiful." She murmured.  
  
I am beautiful no matter what they say  
  
Words can't bring me down  
  
I am beautiful in every single way  
  
Yes, words can't bring me down So you can't bring me down today. 


End file.
